MicroVlog 015: UNICEF Benefit with Peter Daniel

First Video in the Red Raspus Round-Up Series: Record Store Day 2012

I finally finished a new video for my new official YouTube channel and have started a new series called Red Raspus Round-Up. The videos under the umbrella of Red Raspus Round-Up will cover events and experiences with photos, videos, audio -- whatever I can round-up! For starters, I did a round-up of Record Store Day 2012, which took place last Saturday. In addition to photos from the day, there's a complete video unboxing/unpacking of all the stuff I got, including the official freebie bag. I hope you enjoy, and if you haven't checked out our new channel, head on over and subscribe...

1KTF Music Giveaway Results and Video

It's time to announce the winners of the One Thousand Twitter Follower Music Giveaway! I had a great time doing my first live stream today -- if you missed it, I've posted the video below. Thanks to all the folks who entered -- I decided to give music to the two-runners-ups, so followers @QTSCHO and @NutmegDesigns will both get a copy of Septology: In the Beginning. Here are the big winners:

BRONZE PACKAGE: Long-time Twitter friend and follower @ElementsOfJazz -- her new website Elements of Jazz just launched, check it out!.

SILVER PACKAGE: Photographer Juan-Carlo Hernandez, @jchernandezjazz on Twitter. Lots of beautiful stuff to check out on his blogs.

GOLD PACKAGE: Trombone player Martin Sager, @MSplaystrombone on Twitter. He asked me to please mention his "band leader Chris Hodges, The Chris Hodges Band, and Dothanjazz.com," as well as "the cities of Troy and Dothan, Alabama, and all the musicians of the Southeast. Keep doing what you're doing." We'll say more in our thank-you video, coming in the next day or two...

Thanks so much for all who entered, and we look forward to offering another batch of music when we hit the 5,000 follower mark. Stay tuned!

Mountlake Terrace High School Jazz Band Premieres Two of My Arrangements at Hot Java Cool Jazz

When Mountlake Terrace High School band director Darin Faul approached me earlier this year to arrange Norah Jones' "Back to Manhattan" for the MTHS Jazz Band, I was excited, flattered, and most of all thankful -- I needed the work, too! There wasn't much to it, mainly just adding a backdrop to the original version, staying out of the way of the vocalist. But the last two things I've arranged for him -- Duke Ellington's "The Single Petal of a Rose" and Artie Shaw's "Concerto for Clarinet" -- were somewhat more daunting tasks. Ellington himself only recorded the piece as a solo piano composition, and the Artie Shaw piece had originally been recorded for a full orchestra -- and then there were the reputations of the pieces and the artists themselves. With a quick turnaround time needed for their Hot Java Cool Jazz performance, I had to squeeze all my musical and physical juices to get something completed that I was happy with.

Well, after seeing these two videos from the concert, I can only say, "Bravo!" The Mountlake Terrace High School Jazz Band, under the direction of Darin Faul, has hit a series of home-runs with these new charts, and made a whole ton of music out of some ink I put on a page. You clearly got the vibes I was going for, and then some. Bravo! Enjoy the videos of the two charts below:

Mulgrew Miller's Advice for Young Jazz Musicians (Video)

Writer and video journalist Bret Primack posts original video related to jazz with an insane amount of regularity -- four new videos posted just in the last 24 hours! One of this latest batch is from a group of videos featuring veteran pianist Mulgrew Miller, and this most recent entry where Miller gives some advice to budding young jazz musicians is not to be missed: